Considered an important monument in the prime area of Palakkad City of Kerala, tourists keep visiting this historical fort, a legacy of Hyder Ali and Tipu sultan of Mysore, I don't know whether this classified fort is fully restored back to old glory. For a long time neither the central nor the state government took adequate steps towards the restoration and improvement of facilities for the visitors. The Hindu Newspaper several years noted that restoration was going on slowly at the site being managed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). State government offices have been slow to relocate. .
A well planned fort in Kerala it is well known for strategic defensive structural features to tackle mies. Though forts at Kannur and Bakel are bigger than Palakkad, they do not have a variety of structural features like storage facilities, etc within the complex. Grains for more than 1000 soldiers could be stored here besides adequate water facilities to withstand siege.
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| Palakkad fort, Kerala, keralatourism.com |
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| Palakkad fort, Kerala, keralatourism.com |
About moat at Palakkad, it is much larger and wider and accessing the fort is not an easy one. The fort played a key role in the Second Mysore War and the battle of 1782 and it was a silent spectator of miserable event during Hyder Ali's time, when there was a slave trade in operation even children were sold as slaves. After Tipu's death in the final battle, the British took over the Fort by 1790.and it became part of Madras Presidency.
This fort with rich history remained in a poor state with the state government offices such as a Taluk supply office, a special sub-jail, a tahsildar office, and an office of land reforms occupying various parts of the complex for a long period. Within the heritage site many parts needed proper repair and restoration without affecting the heritage aspects.
The jail is in particularly was in bad condition, causing hardship for the 130 inmates and raising human rights concerns. Despite protests from historians and monument enthusiasts, the state government had been slow to shift the offices elsewhere to facilitate restoration.
Despite the fact the ASI, after taking possession of the fort, had restored 80% of the parts, to work on the proposed Museum center remained a question mark. With the areas under the state offices remain damaged. Kerala government normally would give adequate importance to restoration of monuments in the state, With respect to Palakkad Fort why the state administration did not evince interest is a moot question. The Hindu Newspaper reported the District Collector had been working hard to vacate the offices, but as of February 2016, no progress had been made.
As for the present status a large ground between the Fort and the Palakkad Townhall, known as Kota Maidanam (Fort Maidan/Fort Grounds), the plain ground is put to many uses such as exhibitions, public meetings and Cricket matches An open-air auditorium called "Rappadi", currently under the Archeological Survey of India, is within the spacious grounds of the Fort. Yet another attraction is exhibition park on one side for children called "Vatika", which has a beautiful garden alongside outdoor playground. Vatika-Shilavatika, a fine garden is also being managed by the ASI.
However, the parts that house the State government offices and jail remained an eyesore because of the absence of any restoration works. I don't know anything about the proposed Museum in this fort that was once a mud fort. Is it in cold storage? Credit goes to Hyder Ali for rebuilding this fort with defensive features with meticulous care because the fort provided him and later his son Tipu Sultan a strong platform to expand their reign in the Malabar regions.
